Although Paige Geidel ’19 grew up in Kansas, she knew she wanted to end up in Southern California at a Christ-centered college. When she stepped foot on Azusa Pacific University's campus, she knew that it was the place for her. Geidel majored in public relations (PR) with a minor in honors humanities. “I enjoyed everything that went into PR, from writing to photography and talking with people,” she said. “PR was a creative major that combined a lot of my skills and storytelling into one program. I also liked how broad it was in terms of future career paths.”
During her time at APU, Geidel married her husband, Jonathan Geidel, M.MFT ’21, whom she had grown up with in Kansas. Soon after, Geidel and her husband were excited to learn that they would be welcoming their first child. “I was only 21, but I was moving into a stage of life that allowed me to bond with my professors in a new way, and I felt so encouraged being between those stages,” she said. With her family still in Kansas, Geidel was worried about the new challenges she would face. One of her professors, Ismael Lopez Medel, PhD, quoted Psalm 127:4 (Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth.) to her which brought her a sense of peace. Geidel graduated early, earning her degree in just two and a half years in December 2019 before the pandemic struck. She had her baby just a few months after graduation.
Geidel and her husband were living in Glendora when their daughter was born, and despite the anxiety and uncertainty brought about by Covid lockdowns, members of her church stepped up to help them. “My daughter was born in March and I had a traumatic birth experience, but the church blew us away with their thoughtfulness,” she said. “They’d only known us for a year and a half, but they delivered food to us and were really a part of our family.”
Inspired to use her creativity to connect with other mothers, Geidel used the skills she learned in her PR classes to start a podcast called Love in a Cottage. “I wanted to connect with moms who also loved Jesus, and this idea resonated with a lot of women who either became moms at a young age or didn’t know many people in their area,” she said. “I had felt so creative and capable when I graduated, but when I became a mom I asked myself, what’s my purpose?” Geidel found her purpose in bringing comfort and encouragement to others through her podcast which has almost 200 thousand downloads over the past seven seasons.
Love in a Cottage is a space for mothers to feel seen and understood where they’re at amidst the challenges
and celebrations while keeping faith at the center of the conversation. Geidel brings
on guests who speak about their experience with motherhood and how God has shown up
in their lives. “Some of these women have been vulnerable about things like infertility,
so for them to show up with raw emotion and to be candid about saying this is where
I’m at speaks volumes,” she said.
Geidel and her cohost Liz Stambaugh use a coffee shop date ambiance to create a comfortable
and authentic experience for their guests and listeners alike. Together, Geidel and
Stambaugh talk about friendship, postpartum anxiety and depression, intentional parenting,
being content in seasons of hardship, mental health in marriage, creating a beautiful
home, spending time with the Lord, and more. Raw and realistic, Love in a Cottage is hosted with the intention of encouraging, understanding, and inspiring women.
Geidel felt that her listeners could benefit from connecting and worshiping in community. Love in a Cottage has held five retreats across the country where listeners can come together to meet each other in person and connect with the Lord. Each retreat runs from Thursday afternoon to Sunday morning. Once attendees arrive, the group has dinner together. On Friday, they start with breakfast, read a psalm, pray, journal, and share with each other before having a picnic lunch and participating in a creative workshop such as floral arranging. Saturdays begin with another psalm reading and reflection time followed by exploring the city. For dinner, the team cooks together at the airbnb. To close out the retreat, everyone shares one last meal together. Throughout the retreat, attendees are encouraged to take time for themselves and relax by doing activities they enjoy during free time.
Geidel prepares for the retreats by going to God through prayer for positive group
dynamics and for each woman to feel seen, heard, valued, and encouraged. “Each group
is unique just as each and every woman is unique,” she said. “Liz and I do everything
we can to prepare, but it’s in the Lord’s hands how everything plays out.” Women that
attend the retreats often have husbands in the military, are lacking a supportive
community, are new wives and mothers, or are coming out of a big life transition.
“Having time and space to connect with other women who love Jesus, being creative,
and supporting other women is such a gift,” Geidel said.
Geidel herself has found that spending time with Jesus and other women on the retreats
after a stressful season is rejuvenating. She and Stambaugh are currently planning
their next retreat which is set to take place in spring 2026.
Geidel now has three children, and being a mom has changed her life in ways she never could have imagined. Through both the joyful moments and challenges, she continues to grow closer to God and sets a good example of what faith is for her children. “So many Gen Z women see moms who are experiencing the challenges of motherhood and think, why would I want to do that? But there’s so much fulfillment in overcoming the challenges,” she said. “Sometimes I feel like I’m not good at it, but it’s brought me to Jesus in a way that nothing else could have. My encouragement is to lean into the challenges if motherhood is what the Lord is calling you to.”
Geidel has found that growing alongside her children is a valuable way to connect with her faith. Through resources such as faith based kids books and podcasts, Scripture memory music, and praying out loud, Geidel continues to see the Lord in the smallest aspects of everyday life. Recently, Geidel was having a rough day, and her three year old ran up and said “I’m praying for you in my head,” before running off. “I never told her to do that,” she said. “I don’t make them pray, I just try my best to model my faith, but I’m comforted that they know how to apologize, have compassion for others, and go to the Lord for help.” She has enjoyed noticing the similarities between her children and herself as they grow and is grateful for the moments of joy and laughter that they share together.
Although Geidel could not have foreseen the ways in which her life would change so early on, leaning into the challenges of motherhood and finding purpose in connecting women around the country going through similar experiences has been rewarding. She is preparing for a new journey as her oldest child starts kindergarten at home, but despite the unknown of this new season, she continues to love her family, care for others in similar stages of life, and look back fondly on the version of herself she was six years ago at APU.